Amnesty hails Nobel Peace Prize winner

OPCW recently sent inspectors to carry out the dismantling of Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons

Amnesty International today welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize going to the Syrian weapons inspectors OPCW, but warned that more needs to be done in the region.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) beat Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot by the Taliban for campaigning for female education widely tipped for this year's peace prize, to bag the coveted award for its role overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal.

"This is a worthy winner, and a choice that reaffirms international principles against the use of chemical weapons and other banned weapons that cause untold suffering," said Salil Shetty, secretary general of Amnesty International.

"The recent deal in Syria was, of course, a positive step to remove banned chemical weapons from the battlefield, but we can't lose sight of the enormity of the human rights crisis in the country. No one has been held accountable for ongoing war crimes in Syria, including the horrific chemical weapons attacks," he said.

The OPCW, based in The Hague, was established to enforce the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention.

It recently sent inspectors to carry out the dismantling of Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons.

"Conventional weapons continue to be used to commit mass atrocities. Today's announcement must spur the international community to put an end to the mass violations in Syria and to address accountability for war crimes being committed by all sides of the conflict," Shetty said.